When the website was only one broken piece
Improving the customer experience and the business behind it.
Greek restaurant · Indianapolis, Indiana
Visit www.opaavonin.comOPA is a family-owned Greek restaurant that built a strong local reputation over the years through its food, customer service, and loyal customer base. Most of its traffic came from word of mouth, drive-by visits, Uber Eats, DoorDash, and physical coupon mailers.
Despite that reputation, the restaurant's digital presence had not evolved alongside the business.
The owner wanted a modern website with direct online ordering, a stronger online presence, better communication with customers, and less reliance on third-party delivery platforms.
Major Business Challenges Included:
~20% Platform Fees
Third-party ordering fees (~20%) increased prices and cut into margins.
~$7,000 / yr in Mailers
Customer communication ran on physical coupon mailers costing roughly $7,000 a year.
Stale Online Presence
Google Business Profile, Yelp, and TripAdvisor had not been actively maintained for years.
No Direct Channel
The business had no direct digital way to reach and re-engage its customers.
Hidden Catering
Catering awareness was limited, making it hard for customers to discover and request it online.
Manual Hiring
Job applications relied on manual processes with no simple way to apply online.
The Reality Check
At first glance, this looked like a website redesign focused on the restaurant's online presence and direct ordering. Soon after evaluating the business, it was clear the challenges extended far beyond the website itself.
Poor Search Visibility
The restaurant was difficult for new customers to discover through Google search.
Couldn't Order Directly
Customers had to call, visit, or use third-party platforms - there was no direct online ordering.
Couldn't Understand the Food
The site did little to explain the menu or cuisine, so new customers couldn't order confidently.
Ordering Depended on Third Parties
Uber Eats and DoorDash fees (~20%) increased customer prices and reduced business margins.
Communication Stuck Offline
The restaurant relied on paper coupon mailers, with no direct digital communication channel.
Decisions Lacked Visibility
The business had data, but little insight into customer behavior, menu performance, or trends.
An Outdated First Impression
The site had no modern appeal - and a dated, unpolished website quietly tells customers the business is dated too, eroding trust and brand perception before they ever ordered.
Systems Didn't Work Together
Ordering, reporting, customer communication, and operations all ran on disconnected systems. The old website was just one broken piece of a much larger one.
Every issue here traced back to the same root: ordering, communication, reporting, and the brand all lived in disconnected systems. The website was just the most visible broken piece.
The Insight
The old website was just one broken piece of a larger system.
My Role
The project started as a website redesign, but evolved into a broader business transformation effort. I did all of it myself - the owner's only technology and digital advisor, with no team, no agency, and no contractors behind me. I identified priorities, set direction, evaluated solutions, and led every improvement across the restaurant's customer, ordering, communication, reporting, and operational systems.
Website & Digital Experience
Designed and built the website, menu experience, and reusable database-driven content that simplified future updates.
Online Ordering Implementation
Implemented direct online ordering and coordinated integration with third-party vendors.
Vendor Evaluation & Technical Liaison
Worked with vendor teams, evaluated platform capabilities, and assessed replacement options and migration risk.
Customer Communication
Implemented email signup, communication workflows, and retention capabilities.
Reporting & Business Visibility
Built reporting workflows and analyzed customer, ordering, and menu performance data.
Online Presence Manager
Managed and improved presence across Google, Yelp, TripAdvisor, and other customer-facing channels.
Operational Systems Support
Supported ongoing operations after launch — troubleshooting, adapting, and finding practical solutions within constraints.
Me
Designer, Developer & Strategist
Live Business Operations
The restaurant could not afford downtime or ordering interruptions.
Shifting Priorities
Priorities changed frequently as operational needs evolved.
Vendor Replacement Risk
Replacing vendors carried significant migration and operational risk.
Fragmented Systems
Core business functions were spread across disconnected systems.
Limited Visibility
Customer, order, and performance data were fragmented and hard to read.
Manual Workarounds
Many workflows relied on manual workarounds.
The Direction
Addressing everything at once was neither practical nor advisable. The work was organized into two phases that balanced immediate customer needs with longer-term business improvements.
Phase 1
Launch a Modern Website
A mobile-friendly site with direct online ordering and an integrated vendor checkout.
Help Customers Understand the Food
Menu and dish education so new customers could order Greek cuisine confidently.
Be Found & Stay Connected
Improve search visibility and open a direct digital channel to customers.
Phase 2
Replace Paper with Email
Swap costly coupon mailers for a direct email marketing channel.
Create Business Visibility
Reporting on customers, menu, and order performance where almost none existed.
Strengthen Presence & Platforms
Improve Google, Yelp & TripAdvisor and evaluate long-term vendor options.
Live Walkthrough
Before breaking down the research and design behind it, here is the redesigned site in motion - a short walkthrough of how customers discover the restaurant, explore the menu, and order directly online from any device.
Understanding the Users
The broken system hurt two people at once — the customer trying to discover and order, and the owner trying to run and grow the business. Every decision had to serve both.
A customer exploring menu options and deciding what to order.
Needs
Challenges
An owner balancing operations, growth, vendors, and customer relationships.
Needs
Challenges
Phase 1 · In Production
Phase 1 made the restaurant easier to find, easier to understand, and easier to order from. Customers could learn about the food, order online, request catering, apply for jobs, and join the email list - all through a single website experience.
The Homepage
The homepage was redesigned to immediately communicate the restaurant's cuisine, showcase popular dishes, provide direct ordering paths, and help new customers quickly understand what the restaurant offers.
The redesigned homepage introduces the cuisine, surfaces popular dishes, and points customers straight to ordering.
Understanding the Food
Cuisine and dish pages powered by reusable, database-driven content. Each dish page explains the food, shows photos, and recommends related dishes — helping customers explore the menu and creating natural upselling.
The cuisine page orients new customers to the food and routes them into specific dishes.
Dish pages explain each item and recommend related dishes, creating natural upsell paths.
Online Ordering
Customers could now place orders directly through the restaurant website instead of relying solely on third-party delivery platforms - lowering prices for customers and reducing platform dependence.
Customers browse the menu and order directly on the restaurant's own site — no third-party app required.
Mobile Experience
The experience was optimized for mobile, making it easy to browse the menu and place orders from a phone.
Catering
A dedicated catering page turned a hard-to-find service into a clear path — making it easy for customers to discover catering options and request them online.
A dedicated catering page made the service easy to discover and request online.
Phase 2 · Behind the Counter
Once the customer-facing foundation was in place, the work shifted toward helping the business communicate better, understand its own performance, and operate more effectively.
Established email marketing to support ongoing customer communication and promotions.
Introduced reporting that gave the business visibility into customer behavior and trends.
Reporting turned raw order data into clear views of best-sellers, sales trends, and where the menu could improve.
Strengthened presence across Google Business Profile, Yelp, and TripAdvisor.
Tested vendor tools against live operations — separating sales-demo claims from what actually held up.
Practical workarounds that cut manual effort across multiple disconnected platforms.
After Launch
Launching the website solved many customer-facing problems - but it also exposed challenges that were hard to see during planning. As the restaurant kept operating, vendor limitations, fragmented systems, and shifting priorities required ongoing adaptation.
Some improvements had to wait if they risked disrupting day-to-day operations.
Forward Momentum
Despite the obstacles, I continued improving the business by working within its constraints.
The Outcome
What began as a website revamp expanded into a system that supported customer discovery, ordering, communication, and business visibility.
Now placed online through OPA's own site — reclaiming margin from the ≈20% fees Uber Eats and DoorDash charged on every order.
≈30,000 sessions since launch, most arriving through search — a discoverable presence that didn't exist before.
Measured over the first 12 months since launch; approximate where noted.
What's Next
The website solved many immediate problems, but several opportunities still remain to make the restaurant easier to run and easier for customers to engage with.
Ordering, reporting, and customer communication still rely on multiple disconnected platforms and manual workarounds.
The restaurant now has a direct communication channel. The next step would be loyalty programs, customer follow-up, and repeat-visit incentives.
Better reporting could help reveal what drives orders, repeat visits, and menu performance.
Additional content, social media, and search improvements could help more customers discover the restaurant.